John Ch.2

John 2

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1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.

2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.

vs1 How fitting that he should do his first miracle on his third day with his disciples (vs19): especially considering the significance of this miracle.

 

3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 

4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 

5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

vs3-5 In our corruptible human bodies we are destined to “run out” of everything; food, water, strength - and eventually our life breath itself: We are constantly in need of replenishment. God in Christ Jesus is eternal and incorruptible. He is about to offer something that will not corrupt, corrode, ferment, go bad or run out. Even though his “time has not yet come” Jesus, in an act of pure grace, is about to give these people a glimpse ahead of time, of who he is - just as  he did 18 years earlier in the Temple courts of Jerusalem: see Luke 2:46-51 (Mary may have been thinking on this when she made her request to Jesus.) The miracle he is about to perform is a foreshadowing of something much, much greater.

6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

vs 6 Six large stone water jars: a strong symbolic picture of man’s efforts to make himself “clean” - especially because much of this is ritual cleansing - prescribed by the Tradition of the Elders*, not that which was required by the Law of Moses.

Jesus will now transform what was used for outward and temporary cleansing, into the New Wine of resurrection life! 

The Stone Vessels

That which has been hewn into stone - the Law of Moses - cannot be altered or erased: It must therefore be fulfilled. These stone vessels are large, because the demand is colossal: How can we by our own efforts, ever make ourselves “clean” in the sight of God? The answer is, we can’t. Only God Himself can! 

Picture this new wine, straight from Heaven, filling these huge stone vessels to the brim. Jesus is about to paint a powerful and vivid picture of how through his sacrifice and resurrection, he will pour life into that which was dead - our stoney hearts; and fully satisfy the commandments of the Law, hewn into stone, that we couldn’t keep…that condemned us to death - covering them with his blood forever!

7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 

8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it.

vs7-8 One cannot underestimate the obedience of the servants at this point (see also John 6:5-13): Did they recognize Jesus as being someone who was different from the rest? Had word already got around through the testimony of these first disciples…of Mary herself…that “this is the Messiah we have all been waiting for”? We know that these servants took Mary at her word; and it was while they were serving Jesus (although not understanding) and while they were obeying his instructions to the letter…that their eyes were opened - and they knew!

We do not know at what point, the water became wine: all we know is that when the servants, putting their faith in the Word of Jesus, drew it out, it was wine: And we too, in coming to draw on the Life-giving Salvation of the Lord, must do so by Faith…putting all our faith in the ability of the Lord to do what he has said he will do. (Hebrews 11:6)

9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom

10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 

vs9-10 This wine - different - and far superior to anything the master had tasted before (he did not know where it had come from) is symbolic again of the pure resurrection Life the Lord will give us…And all on the third day. (Mark 2:22; Matthew 26:29)

11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.

vs11 As the perfect sacrifice, Jesus obeyed the Law of God, to the letter - honoring every feast; knowing that each and every one was pointing to Him: This particular feast - Passover - is particularly significant to Him, because of who he is, and later on, what he will do. (See John 1:29)

13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 

14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 

15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.

16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” 

17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

vs13-16 is almost a dress-rehearsal: His time has not yet come, but he is giving them warning: The Lord is about to “suddenly come to his temple” (Malachi 3:1) And they have already had ample warning, through his messenger, John the Baptist.

vs17: John the Apostle is quoting here from King David in Psalm 69 - which tells us that, at least to some of his disciples, his actions as “the Son of David” are ringing true to the Scriptures: They are rapidly learning that Jesus was utterly and completely different to any Jewish leader they had ever known before; this one act would have shown them what it truly means to be zealous for the House of the Lord.

18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 

vs 18 This demand for a sign is almost identical to the demand they made in Matthew 12:38-40  - and in both instances - by use of two very different, but powerful  illustrations - Jesus will point them to the exact same thing: His death, burial and resurrection. This is the only sign any of us need!

19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 

20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”

21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 

22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. 

vs22 Jesus always told them ahead of time, so that they would not only believe, but put their confidence in him.(Matthew 24:25)

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 

24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people

25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

vs 23-24 Again, the signs themselves are only the beginning: The greatest sign of all is yet to come.

The Lord knows how imperfect we are (Psalm 103:14)…He knows our tendency to marvel…to pursue…to worship only what is apparent on the outside (1Samuel 16:6-7; Matthew 23:25-26)  - which is why we fail - and why we fall - over and over again. However, to follow Jesus all the way is going to require so much more than a love of signs, wonders and miracles: See Matthew 16:24-25.

vs 25 For who could know the hearts of every man - except the One who created man - God Himself? See ch1:1-4

And because he is the LORD God, perfect and sovereign in all his ways, he needs no help, nor affirmation, nor support - from anyone. (John ch.10:17-18; ch.16:31-32)

*Tradition of the Elders:

Man-made laws and regulations, stemming from the myth that Moses wasn’t only given a written Law by God, but also an oral law - the oral Torah- which unlike the written Law, can be changed or added to, at the convenience of men; and thus, putting a hopeless burden upon the backs of people- which the Lord never intended for them to have. (Read Matthew ch. 15:1-20 & ch.23)